Category Archives: tomato plants

In the Share: Week 9

csa harvest, tomato plants, tomatoes

TOMATOES F/P  Just one or two for each share, mostly red hybrids and purple/chocolate heirloom varieties.  Our heirlooms come in every color and flavor.  Try a different one each week to familiarize yourself.  All tomatoes soften slightly when ripe and the color should be bright.  Don’t be fooled by the heirlooms tendency to keep some green on top even when ripe.

LETTUCE F/P  Another week of crunchy little crispheads.  Summer heat means no more until September.

COLORFUL CARROTS F/P  Orange and yellow ones this week.  Cut off the greens before storing in your refrigerator and the roots will last longer.

SUMMER SQUASH F/P  Yellow squash and zucchini.

RED ONIONS F/P 

SWEET PEPPERS F  Purple and green ones.

JALAPENOS F/P  Just one or two for each share to spice things up.

CABBAGE OR SWISS CHARD F

HERB CHOICE F/P  Parsley or basil.

NEXT WEEK:  Tomatoes, squash, potatoes, garlic

FARM REPORT:
Whew!  What a change in the weather we have had.  So incredibly hot and humid today, but only in the 70s for much of the past two days.  A nice two inches of rain came through on Friday, leading to a very muddy CSA harvest morning on Saturday.  It was no problem for the CSA crew who couldn’t be stopped from pulling load after load of muddy beets, carrots and onions.

We are eternally grateful for the CSA member work shift because they add extra help just where it is needed most.  The harvest is the end result of a series of steps that start with a seed being planted in the greenhouse or the field.  The final step of pulling roots, cutting greens and picking fruits all by hand requires easily half of our time in the summer.  By helping bring in the harvest, the CSA allows the farm crew to have the time we need to tend to the crops as they grow leading to larger harvests once they mature.  Case in point, the farm crew has been spending lots of time in the tomato and pepper patch mulching, staking and pruning.  The plants are responding well to our efforts and we are looking forward to a great summer harvest.

In the Share: Week 7

basil, rain, shade structure, tomato plants

BASIL F/P  The heat has made for some nice basil bunches to celebrate the arrival of summer.

WALLA WALLA ONIONS F/P  The first week of many with these sweet onions.

NEW POTATOES F/P  The potatoes are surviving the heat only so well.  It is time to save the many nice ones before they cook in the ground!  New potatoes should be stored like other fresh roots in the refrigerator as their skins have not developed fully.

CARROTS F/P  The first of these are still young and very tender with tops.

BEETS OR TURNIPS F  Your choice of roots with no tops.

GAILAN OR CHARD F  Here’s just tops.  Which reminds me of the children’s story “Tops and Bottoms” where the crafty Hare tricks the lazy Bear due to his lack of knowledge about vegetable anatomy.

NAPA CABBAGE F/P  Check Tom’s blog for some hints on making kimchi

NEXT WEEK:  garlic, squash, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, and perhaps tomatoes.

FARM REPORT:
The soil was dry and cracked.  We were irrigating the fields, yet the plants were withering under the scorching heat and it wasn’t even Summer yet.  Then, on the first day of Summer a beautiful thing happened: a thunderstorm came out of the north and soaked the fields.

By the next morning we had three inches of water in the rain gauge and the cracks were gone.  The rain couldn’t have come at a better time.  We were already working on mulching the summer crops and now we can hold on to the moisture under a thick layer of hay.  The tomato patch is coming along and holds many green fruits.
Mulching is just so much fun when the temperatures reach 98 degrees and the humidity is similarly high.  Every dusty piece of dried plant matter sticks to your sweaty skin which the sweat bees are busily biting.  It is one of those dirty jobs on the farm that have an enormous benefit once you get through it.  And we are almost done, maybe one or two more sweaty afternoons.
When we have had our fill of mulching, we cool down in the shade and seed crops for the fall.  The shade structure is full of cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower so far.  The shade keeps the flats cool to provide a better temperature for the seeds to germinate.  Even seeds don’t want to be out in this heat.

In the Share – Week 3 Extended Season

Allis Chalmers G, asparagus, cultivating, electric tractor, tomato plants

 ASPARAGUS  An extra big bunch for all.  The hot weather has it growing fast.

LETTUCES (2)  We have plenty of lettuce for everyone to get two of what is left in the high tunnel.  We have butterheads, Forellenschluss, and red leaf lettuce remaining.

HAKUREI TURNIPS  See Tom’s post for a stir-fry that uses the tops and the bottoms, plus bok choy or almost any other green you may have waiting for a recipe. 

RADISHES  More baby bunches from the high tunnel.  Just enough to give your salad a kick.

SPINACH  Probably the last harvest of the spinach in the high tunnel.  It fed us all well since last fall and we are grateful for it. 

TAT SOI  Both the tat soi and the bok choy in the high tunnel have been disappointments this Spring.  Not sure why, perhaps they got too chilled earlier.  You will be receiving baby heads that will fill in nicely in a stir fry or salad with other greens.

CARROTS It is nice to have fresh carrots this time of year.  The ones in the field are still so small. 

CHOICE:  KALE, SWISS CHARD OR GAILAN  We are clearing out the high tunnel so here is an assortment of greens to choose from.

HERB CHOICE:  Cilantro, dill, tarragon

NEXT WEEK:  The first week of the 24-week season!  Lettuces and salad greens.  Asparagus and green onions. 

After last week’s cold spell, the temperature has increased dramatically.  We waited until the frost-danger had passed and now all of the summer fruits:  tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans, cucumbers and squash are ready to be planted.  So far, we have 550 tomato plants in the ground, with another 350 to go.

It is also time to cultivate the spring beds.  Weeds are still small in most places and are vulnerable to the cultivator sweeps on the electric tractor.  The onion beds got the treatment yesterday and are looking great.

In the Share – Week 24

frost, high tunnel, tomato plants
first frost

LETTUCE (F/P)  Just enough out of the field to get everyone one for the last week, all butterheads or the speckled heirloom, Forellenschluss.

CARROTS (F/P)  Freshly dug with their tops on, stubby Chantennay-type. 

GREENS CHOICE (F/P)  Kale, arugula, or tat soi.  Partial shares include a choice of endive.

ENDIVE (F)  The frilly French lettuce, also known as frisee.

SWEET PEPPERS OR EGGPLANT (F)  It warmed up last week before the frost and a few more fruit ripened in the process.  Here’s the very last of the summer fruits.

WATERMELON RADISHES (F)  Spicy when fresh, they are sure sweet roasted.

BEETS OR BULB FENNEL (F/P) 

HAKUREI TURNIPS (F)  A gamble when we planted them, they are just now sizing up for a small tender bunch with very edible greens. 

SWEET POTATOES (F/P)  More orange Beauregards.

HERB CHOICE (F)  Cilantro, dill, parsley or a dried herb.

GARLIC (F/P)  We planted 3/4 of the field on Monday before the rain.  With only a bit more to go, we are letting go of a bit more for everyone.

NEXT WEEK:  (The first week of the extended season)  Sweet potatoes, leeks, red cabbage, spinach, potatoes, herbs, lettuce, and bok choy.

FARM REPORT:

Whew!  Your farmers are very much enjoying a beautiful Fall after a busy year.  This is the last week of the regular 24-week CSA season.  For almost 100 of you, this is the last week of the CSA.  Thank you for spending the season with our produce.  We hope you feel well-fed from our local family farm.

Looking back, we are always amazed at how much we all accomplish working together.  Ten years of the Fair Share Farm CSA has breathed new life into the farm.  This past Saturday was typical of the crazy wonderful support we see here.  With some time left after the morning’s harvest, the CSA crew went to work removing the tomato plants and supports from the fields. 

Fifty of you will continue with us for four more weeks.   The high tunnel is mostly full of green goodness.  We did have problems this fall with the lettuce crop, both inside and outside.  We’ve had to pick good heads wherever we could save them from their bolting behavior.  But we have beautiful spinach other salad greens and fresh roots in the high tunnel, more under row cover outside and crates of roots in storage to keep everyone full of good food. 

And finally, we continue to pour over the 2013 survey results.  Here are some of our finding so far:

1.       In general, the percentage of members responding from each distribution location matches the actual percentage of members at each site.

2.       About 1/3 of our members have been with us for over 5 years.

3.       Over 40 members responded saying they buy bulk.

4.       112 out of 113 respondents say the pick-up process is clear and effective (nice job distribution teams)

5.       97% say the produce quantity is adequate and is a good value for the price.

6.        96% of respondents say they will sign up again next year.

7.       96% say they use the blog.

8.       It appears our least favorite vegetables are radishes, turnips, eggplant, okra and kohlrabi. Eggplant and okra are also favorites of many.

9.       The membership is not overly interested in communicating internally (87% do not presently use the blog comment capability or Facebook.)  It appears that some people are not aware that we presently have a Facebook page where recipes and other information can be shared. It also appears that folks can “like” and “comment” but cannot post to the wall.

10.   It appears that there is adequate interest in purchasing processed items (78% said yes, or they would probably buy processed food.) Also 29 of 30 members that sampled fermented pickles at the 10thanniversary party said they would buy them if offered.

11.   In responding to what they liked most about the CSA work days the word work was used 23 times, learning 14 times and seeing 13 times. What was liked least was nothing (12), heat/hot (16), and drive (5).

12.   In responding to what members liked most about the CSA the word blog was used 21 times, love (19), and produce (15).

13.   What folks liked least appear to be related to personal inconvenience of pickup times and/or location, the fact that choices dwindle as distribution progresses, wanting more in the swap box, timing of bulk list and blog posting, and wondering why there is a bulk list instead of us sending everything in that we harvest.

14.   Folks want more opportunities to buy eggs.

In the Share – Week 10

fall planting, mulch, pond, tomato plants, tomatoes
TOMATOES (F/P) Holy tomato, Batman!  The farm is full of tomatoes of all sizes, colors and flavors.  It took us all day plus some to get the harvest in and sorted. We definitely hit a new record at 1,300 + lbs. just today.

MORE TOMATOES (F/P)  Everyone will be getting a double share this week. We are holding back many less ripe ones, for future shares. The cave is keeping them nicely.  We are giving you ripe ones and many that are two or three days away from being ripe.  If you can wait, they are best when they are soft and fleshy.

CHERRY TOMATOES (F/P)  If Saturday is any indication, we should have plenty for all.

POTATOES (F/P)  It wasn’t an Irish Spring for sure and so we aren’t getting a great potato crop. They are small but very tasty. We will be digging several varieties this week as we clear the highest and driest area first, which includes the French Fingerling, the Bintje and the Kennebec.

CUCUMBERS AND SUMMER SQUASH (F/P) We are handing out small cucumbers this week out of the pickling cucumber patch. They are great for fresh eating too. The summer squash is not producing a lot but we are spreading them out to everyone as best we can.

GARLIC (F/P) Garlic is fully cured and ready for eating.  Offered will be more Musik, a hardneck type.

EGGPLANT (F/P) Today we also harvested a big crop of eggplant. We pick them young when they are at their most tender and mild. No need to soak these babies.

SALSA PACK (F/P) Partial shares get a choice with the eggplant.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Thai basil, thyme, or parsley. Partial shares get a smaller bunch and a smaller garlic.

FARM REPORT

What to say? We are in the thick of summer and barely have time to put this together. The drought continues for us. We missed most of the rain that was all around us on Sunday. For a short while the rain was a very lovely sight.

In the end, one-tenth of an inch is all that fell. We spent some time this weekend to get a close approximation of what water we have. Here I am having a lovely swim to measure the deepest point in the pond.

It reads about 7.5 feet, which from our calculations means about half of the volume of the pond has been used or evaporated. The question then becomes, “Is the pond half-full or half-empty?” We like to stay positive, so are looking ahead to the prospect of possibly pumping water from the old pond that we used in 2003 during our first season on the farm. Hopefully it won’t come to that but we like to have it as an option just the same.

In the midst of all this the planting schedule must be kept and on Monday we transplanted the first of the fall crops.
 

The cabbage looks good under a thick layer of mulch and with plenty of water. We are hoping to plant all of the fall brassica (cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage) this way into hay mulch to conserve moisture.

Fair Share Farm CSA to Start May 9th

bad seed, csa, fair share farm, irrigation, lady beetles, onions, solar power, sustainable agriculture, tomato plants

The time has come to start the harvest. This Spring has been unusually mild and has created an early maturing of most everything on the farm. These conditions have convinced us to start the CSA a week earlier than originally planned. So…the schedule for the first week’s pickup will be:

Wednesday Distribution (Bad Seed or Farm) May 9th
Saturday Distribution (Liberty or Farm) May 12th

For deatils relating to your distribution site please click on the link. If you are a farm pickup, you will have chosen either Wednesday or Saturday, so please take note of which day you are scheduled for.

The farm crew has been busy keeping up with everything the last month. Our 2012 apprentices Dani Hurst and Ryan Stubby started the last week of March and have now been on the job for a month. Peruse the previous blogs and you can see all that we have been up to.

This last week we have been concentrating on our summer crops. On Monday we started up the irrigation system as the plants were becoming quite parched. Our solar irrigation system seems to be working well this season. You can see in the photo the high flow we get on-demand from the panels. We measured this flow at 35 gallons per minute.

Elsewhere in the field crops destined for future shares, such as onions and broccoli are growing well.

The tomato plants are starting to go out. The cherries and caged hybrids are in the ground, and the heirlooms and remaining hybrids are No. 1 on the runway. Squash and cucumbers are germinating in the greenhouse and will be in the field in the next 10 days or so.

We began seeing aphids in the greenhouse on the peppers and eggplants the last few days, so felt it was time to call in the biological hit squad of lady beetles. Rebecca bought some at Family tree nursery and we set 1/3 of them loose last night. This morning they seemed to be quite active. We expcet them to do their job and help keep our transplants as healthy as possible.

Look forward to seeing and feeding all of you soon.

In the Share – Week 24

csa, fair share farm, kohlrabi, sustainable agriculture, tomato plants
Looking like it came from the stars, the kohlrabi

Don’t forget!: FAIR SHARE FARM HARVEST DINNER – THIS Saturday, Oct. 29, 4-6 pm at St. James Lutheran Church, 1104 Vivion Road, Kansas City MO

LETTUCE (F/P) 2 for the full shares, 1 for the partials

BULB FENNEL (F/P) We love us some bulb fennel and this crop has turned out well. See Tom’s post for ideas for use if you are new to it.

TOMATOES (F/P) Amazing to all of us, we still have tomatoes ripening in our packing room from the big pre-freeze harvest. Most of the ones you are receiving this week are not quite ripe, so let them ripen on your countertop or in a closed paper bag if you want to speed up the process.

SWEET PEPPERS (F) Also from the big pre-freeze harvest. I am not a huge fan of green peppers, but boy these sweet things have me thinking different.

CABBAGE (F/P) An assortment of types to choose from.

BROCCOLI OR CAULIFLOWER (F)  They are smaller this week. I think all the hot, dry weather has finally caught up with them. Continue to check for any caterpillars we may have missed.

ROOT MIX (P) 2 beets. 2 watermelon radishes and 1 turnip. See last week’s post for more info. on the watermelon radish.

GREENS CHOICE (F) Tat soi, bok choy or Swiss Chard

KOHLRABI (F/P) Fall is when these beauties really shine. Once you peel it thoroughly, you get to the tender, juicy crunch.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Cilantro, dill, parsley or a dried herb.

ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms shares

NEXT WEEK: You are on your own folks. I’ll bet you will still have some FSF veggies in the fridge and on the counter. If you are ready for more, check out the friendly folks down at the BadSeed Market on Friday nights. We plan to offer, as we have the past few years, a pre-Thanksgiving share to be picked up at the BadSeed Market on Nov. 18. More information will be coming in November.

FARM REPORT

The last week of the CSA season has arrived. It is always bittersweet to say goodbye to the growing season. In the last week, the first freeze marked the end to the tomatoes and other warm-weather plants. On Saturday, the CSA helped remove the tomato plants from the field, a good practice to prevent disease.

Other late fall tasks include planting garlic, mulching perennials and overwintering leeks and collecting the irrigation equipment. All of this we are trying to do this week as the farm team will be changing. Dani Hurst will be leaving us to join her fiancé working on his medical residency out of state. We have really enjoyed Dani’s enthusiasm and thoughtful attention to the work since she joined us in August. Lucas Knutter has been working at the farm since last fall and will be continuing with us through the winter on a part-time basis. Lucas has been invaluable to the farm team for the past year and we hope he will find time for us now and again while he builds a farm of his own on family land nearby.

Our farm crew of four relies on a membership of 120 families. Every one of you pitched in this season and helped make the harvest a success. We succeed as a sustainable business and farm thanks to all of you who have lent your hands to our endeavor. We appreciate all the time, energy and creativity that you gave freely to the farm and the CSA this season. Because of you our farm is a productive, thriving example of what happens when a piece of land is supported by a community of people. Tom and I cannot put into words the depth of our gratitude. Thank you!

I think all of our hard work deserves a celebration!

So join us for the  Eighth Annual Fair Share Farm CSA Harvest Dinner, October 29, 4-6 pm at St. James Lutheran Church, 1104 Vivion Road, Kansas City MO.

Look for your evite in your inbox to see what type of dish to bring to the best potluck you’ve ever attended.

Kids Costume Contest!! Adults costumes welcome!

Raffle for lovely items donated by the best green businesses in town, including: The Farmhouse, Green Circle, Sturgis Materials and the Grass Pad.   Raffle proceeds to benefit the Veggie Voucher Fund. 

Come party down with your favorite farmers and your fellow locavores! See you there.